My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling selected from a group of seedlings at Gresham, Oreg. The seedlings were planted as part of a breeding program carried on by me since the year 1966. This program had as its primary objectives the production of superior upright red lilies, with improved flower color and a more outstanding plant habit, in particular vigorously growing, strong, upright Asiatic red lilies having bushy foliage and being genetically short enough for pot culture without chemical treatment.
I achieved the desired objective by using as a seed parent Lilium `Byam's Ruby` and as the pollen parent Lilium `Red Carpet`.
The new lily plant resulting from my breeding efforts is single stemmed, erect and very bushy. It grows to a height of only 18 to 20 inches from a bulb 5 to 7 inches in circumference, and hence it is ideal for pot culture. Its strength is outstanding.
The foliage of my new lily plant is abundant and comprises a multiplicity of lanceolate leaves 4 to 5 inches long which are a glossy deep green color. The unusual length and number of leaves gives my new plant a "Christmas tree" effect. The number of buds borne by my new plant is very high, being 8 to 12 buds per stem produced from a bulb 5 to 7 inches in circumference. Both flowers and buds, when the tepals first divide and unfurl, are a most striking clearest deep scarlet in color.
My new plant is also exceptional in the vigor of its growth, its rapid propagation, its resistance to disease, and its tolerance of infection by virus, and its longevity. It is outstanding in its suitability for pot culture, all as observed by me at Gresham, Oreg.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Gresham, Oreg. Successive generations produced by bulb scale propagation and natural propagation from bulblets and division have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.